


The Good, The Bad and The Unkillable

by Drogna



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: AU probably, Everyone lives, Fix-It, Gen, Post Season 3, RipFic, The Good The Bad and The Cuddly, What happened to Rip
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-04-24 08:59:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14352222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drogna/pseuds/Drogna
Summary: A series of fics about what happened to Rip after the time drive overloaded. There was no body, so he's definitely not dead, and the universe isn't done with Rip Hunter, no matter what he might think.1. Through a Glass, Darhkly - Rip finds himself stuck in a demon dimension with Damien Darhk.





	1. The Past is Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a series of fix-it fics for the end of season 3, because we all know that Rip isn't dead. The prologue applies to all the fics in the series.

 

The weird thing was that it didn’t hurt, and he wasn’t scared.

The wind rustled through the long grass as he stood waiting, the air was warm, and the sun was high in the sky. It wasn’t a bad day to die.

It could be said that he had been preparing for this moment for his entire career: the day when he’d have to make the ultimate sacrifice to save the timeline. He’d even trained for it. The Time Masters had been thorough when educating their cadets, and had included what to do when facing certain death in their simulations. Not that they had thought to mention that certain scenarios had no way out. He remembered how livid he had been when he realised that there was no way to succeed on a particular test, but he couldn’t fault their logic. It was possible that one day they would need to be prepared to fail. Apparently that day was today for him.

And he hadn’t felt like life had really been worth living for a long time now. His sense of duty had kept him going, but very little else. This felt necessary, it felt right, and his only thought was to protect the team that he’d helped to build.

Mallus had been his obsession for the last five, nearly six, years. He knew more about this demon than he probably knew about himself, which meant that he also knew this wouldn’t be enough to kill it. This dark, vile thing, smelling of decay, that flapped closer and closer, was too powerful to even be destroyed by the time drive. He clutched the glowing drive as it destabilised, waiting. The attack was expected, and deflected by the residual energy from the time drive.

He watched the Waverider make its escape, and knew that he’d done what was required. He felt relief wash over him, this had worked. All he had to do now was stand, hold his ground, and if there was one thing that he was _very_ good at, it was being stubborn. The immovable object.

“Ironic, isn’t it? A time demon who’s run out of time.” At least he got that final satisfaction, taunting the demon and knowing that he was going to hurt it quite a bit with this stunt.

Rip fixed his eyes upon the demon and waited for the end to come. The light engulfed them both, and consciousness faded. It didn’t hurt. He wasn’t scared. It just was. A fitting ending to a sad life of pain, and he was ready. He wanted to see Miranda and Jonas again.

The time drive exploded.

 


	2. Through a Glass, Darhkly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rip finds himself trapped in a demon dimension with Damien Darhk. Neither is pleased to see the other.

Rip Hunter woke up, which was unexpected.

He was lying on his back, the ground beneath him was cold, and slightly damp. He pressed his fingers down and felt a gravelly texture. He was breathing, and he couldn’t detect any obvious injuries. He felt surprisingly good for someone who had held an overloading time drive. Finally, he opened his eyes and above him was a dark sky, with dense grey clouds, which lightning occasionally crackled across.

Bollocks! He couldn’t even make a noble sacrifice correctly, and this didn’t look like a terribly hospitable location to have ended up in.

“Finally!” said a disturbingly familiar voice. “You certainly took your time.”

He turned his head towards the source of the voice, and to his left stood Damien Darhk. He was wearing all black, exactly what he had been when Rip had last seen him on the Waverider. Rip was immediately moving, pushing himself up from the ground and rapidly scrambling away from his enemy.

“Damien Darhk. What have you done? Where am I?” he accused, angrily, shaking out his coat and looking around him. He reached for his revolver and aimed it at the white-haired man in front of him.

The landscape around him was flat and bleak, the ground was a strange dark soil with large rocks strewn across it. There was nowhere for him to take cover, and if Darhk decided to use his magic against him then he had little ability to protect himself. He may well get his wish to join his family in the afterlife only  _slightly_  behind the schedule that he’d planned, because Darhk would be murdering him shortly. His enemy’s presence at least explained how he came to be here. Obviously, Darhk had made use of his magic to somehow transport him to this location.

“Me? You think this was me?” Darhk laughed, and pointed at his own chest. He looked around, shaking his head, apparently regarding this as hilarious. “No, this is what happens when you hand your body over to a  _world ending_  time demon. I’m actually not sure what you’re doing here. Mallus already had me, so why would he need a scrawny little thing like you? I’m clearly the superior vessel.”

Darhk looked Rip up and down with disdain, and slight amusement.

“You expect me to believe any of that?” asked Rip, the lines of his face taut with anger and disbelief.

He would never trust anything that Damien Darhk said; that was a default position he’d had reinforced recently. This was the man who had tried to end the world with a nuclear weapon so that he could rebuild it as he wished, and had been part of Thawne’s plan to use the Spear of Destiny to alter reality. Rip had lost two friends to the Legion’s quest for the Spear, one of which he’d been brainwashed into killing with his own hands. And he  _still_  had nightmares about that even after years had passed. Darhk had also double crossed them with the Death Totem only a few hours previously, directly leading to Rip’s need to buy time for the Legends. The man was pure evil, and Rip had absolutely no reason to believe anything he said.

“Not really. It happens to be the truth though. And your gun won’t work here, nothing technological will,” replied Darhk, dismissively, with a wave of his hand at Rip’s revolver.

“Let’s just test that, shall we?” he spat. He adjusted his aim slightly, so that the laser bolt wouldn’t actually hit Darhk. Potentially, the man might have useful information. He pressed the trigger, and nothing happened. “Huh,” he breathed.

So Darhk hadn’t lied. That itself was an unusual occurrence, but in this case he’d rather he had. This also meant that the Time Courier on his wrist was useless, not that he thought it would have had enough power to move him out of a demon dimension.

“If it’s any consolation, I’m having performance issues too. My magic doesn’t work here,” said Darhk, with a note of smug superiority and a clear, but unspoken, “I told you so”.

“You didn’t answer my question about where “here” is.” Rip indicated the surrounding grim wasteland.

“That’s because I don’t know. Obviously, I have my theories.”

Rip rolled his eyes and put his gun away in its holster. “Is one of them that this is, in fact, the dimension that Mallus is originally from?”

“And apparently the points go to Rip Hunter. Yes, that is my leading theory.”

“I suppose it makes sense.”

“Now, since I answered your question, you should answer one of mine. I know how  _I_  got here, but how did you? Your former crew didn’t deign to give me the full story, just that you were now amongst the dearly departed.”

“You first. You were still with the team when I removed the time drive. How were you able to come here before me?”

“It’s quite simple really. I persuaded dear, gullible Ray Palmer to take me back in time so that we could save Nora. I swapped places with Nora, which confusingly I did after you committed your act of suicidal idiocy, but actually also before… anyway, Mallus used me as his vessel and then emerged, which I thought killed me, but I suppose not, because here we are. Just two lost souls in a demon dimension.”

“Ah, so you were possessed by him, and ended up here. Interesting. I was… well, I used the destabilised time drive from the Waverider to temporarily destroy his corporal form.” Rip gestured with expressive hands.

Darhk stiffened. “You did what?”

“I believe I just explained,” Rip said, crossly, with an annoyed look in Darhk’s direction.

“He’s a time demon, all you did was give him indigestion and send him home for a time out…”

“Bollocks!” said Rip, suddenly realising the problem. He rocked back on his heels. “ _This_  is his home, I sent  _both of us_  here.”

There was the sound of leathery wings, as a giant demon soared over their heads. He slammed into the sky above them, as if it was some kind of glass dome, and then yelled with rage as he failed to damage it. Both men flinched as the demon rebounded, and then did their best to pretend that they hadn’t. The beast emitted a fiery beam of light that seemed to be producing some kind of hole in the sky, or whatever the upper atmosphere here was. It seemed more like a barrier than anything else.

At least Rip got the pleasure of seeing that his plan had worked. It would take Mallus some time to break out of his prison again and get back to the world, even if the gate was only temporarily closed. And for the moment, the demon didn’t seem to be terribly interested in them, which was a blessing, but there was no saying how long that would last.

For just a second Rip thought he caught movement off in the distance, but then he shook his head. This place only was barren, spartan and bleak. There was no sign that any life apart from themselves existed here. His mind was playing tricks on him.

“Oh, good one,  _Rip_. Now we’re not only stuck in a demon dimension, we’re trapped here with the demon that lives in it! Fantastic work!”

“Says the man who used his  _own daughter_  to summon the damn thing in the first place! Exactly how did you expect that to turn out? Whatever gave you the impression that it might end well for her?” Rip had little sympathy for the evil man stood in front of him.

“I thought I would be able to control him. All I wanted was for us to be together again!”

Rip did a double take, because Darhk did genuinely sound anguished, but he still found it hard to believe that he’d had no idea of what would happen to Nora. He’d personally handed her over to The Order that had raised her to be a vessel for Mallus.

“Yes, well, perhaps you should have thought of that before you decided to take over the world using an ancient evil,” snapped Rip, his voice harsh with anger.

“Because you were so good at protecting your own family!” retorted Darhk.

Rip, who was already feeling somewhat stressed by the situation, felt his adrenaline rise. Quite simply, he snapped and aimed a punch at Darhk’s jaw. Darhk didn’t seem to believe Rip would actually hit him and he didn’t even try to dodge, instead he reeled from the blow with a pained groan. Rip shook out his aching fist, and stood ready to defend himself if required.

“I’ve been waiting for someone to do that. I didn’t think it would be you though. I forgot there was a boiling cauldron of seething rage hidden under that stiff, British façade,” said Darhk dryly, touching a finger to the bloody lip that Rip had given him. He removed a black handkerchief from his inner jacket pocket and dabbed at the blood.

“Don’t you ever speak to me about my family again!” Rip levelled a finger at Darhk. “How dare you compare your disgusting treatment of your daughter to the death of my wife and child!”

Darhk held up his hands. “Fine! Whatever you say, Hunter. That’s quite the right hook you’ve got there.” He was smirking though, and Rip hated him for it. “I suppose exchanging parenting tips is off the table too.”

Darhk took a few steps back and then turned away to watch Mallus who appeared to now be emanating a fiery beam towards the stormy sky. “But we stand more chance of surviving this if we work together, so as much as I hate you and you hate me…”

“I wonder why that is?” Rip asked, sarcastically. “Let’s recap, shall we? You killed the sister of a very good friend of mine, tried to blow up New York with a nuclear weapon, worked with the Nazis, tortured my amnesiac alter ego, helped Thawne to turn me into a brainwashed monster, left me to die on a battlefield when we were supposed to be allies, killed my agents in cold blood, and, finally, betrayed the Legends with the death totem. I think that’s more than enough for me to hold a grudge.”

Darhk rolled his eyes. “Well, when you put it like that…” He turned back to Rip. “Would it help if I said that I was sorry?”

“No.”

“Oh, thank god, because I really wasn’t going to apologise.” Darhk was smirking again.

Rip felt his fists clench at his sides. No one would know if he killed Darhk here. He had a knife in his boot and that would still work here, he had no doubt, and all he had to do was wait until his enemy was distracted… He let out a groan and turned away from Darhk, but kept him in his peripheral vision. He couldn’t do it. Not like this anyway. Darhk should be taken back to the Time Bureau and imprisoned, where he could rot in jail and do no more harm to anyone. And he did not want to work with this man, but he too could see no way that they would get out of this alone.

Rip threw his hands up in the air with frustration. “There has to be a way out of here. I refuse to spend the rest of my life stuck here with you. I suppose you’re the closest thing that we have to an expert. So, how does one get out of a demon dimension then?”

“Oh, there’s a way. We could follow Mallus when he breaks out, but unfortunately, neither of us have wings and without my magic, I don’t have the ability to get us up there.” Darhk looked up at the demon. “Other than that, I’ve got nothing.”

Rip kicked at the ground. “Brilliant.”

The toe of his boot hit something, and he looked down. A flash of lightning glinted off dull metal, and with nothing better to do than be curious, he knelt on the ground to get a closer look. He brushed away the black dirt, and found the ruined remains of the time drive. Really it was only the frame and maybe a few pieces of the core, blackened and twisted by the overload, split into several jagged shards. He sat back on his heels, and considered it. This had once been the heart of the Waverider, his ship for thirteen years, and now it was as lost and broken as he was. The instrument of his destruction. He let out a long breath of despair as he held the pieces in his hands.

Then, suddenly, his mind was working. It wasn’t a whole time drive, but perhaps he could use it to pry open a crack in the edge of this dimension. It might just be the crowbar that he needed, if he could somehow fix it sufficiently and then use the guidance mechanism from his Time Courier to prevent them being flung into eternity. Even then the accuracy would be dubious, but anything was better than being stuck in a demon dimension with Damien Darhk. He was just building the device in his head when he remembered that nothing technological would work here, and he realised that none of what he’d been thinking would help him. He felt like taking the pieces of the time drive and throwing it into the distance.

For a moment he’d had some hope, but then it had been utterly dashed. Somehow that made it worse. He frowned as another thought struck him, one which was barely the seed of an idea. He refused to give himself hope again, but perhaps it was worth at least exploring. He looked over at Darhk.

“Why doesn’t technology work here?”

The man was watching the demon, who appeared to be making progress with getting out of his prison again. There was a distinct crack opening in the sky, it seemed to crackle with orange flames.

“It’s a demon dimension. There are certain rules, principally that magic is the primary force here. Human things like electrical energy are somewhat…” he waved a hand, “outside this realm’s purview. Physics doesn’t exist here in the same way it does on the earthly plane.”

Rip’s forehead furrowed more deeply. “But you said your magic doesn’t work either.”

“Ah, yes, well I have two sources to my power: Mallus and human suffering. Death works best. However, my lord and master saw fit to drain me of my power when I died for him. I’m like a depleted battery with no way to recharge, and unfortunately the only person here is  _you_ ,” he gave Rip an ominous look with a dangerous, lingering leer, before he put his hands in his pocket and turned his attention back to Mallus.

Rip straightened his back, and gave Darhk a long, hard, rather concerned look, as a coldness settled over him. He suddenly had the distinct feeling that he was lunch, and he swallowed nervously.

Darhk chuckled, as he glanced in Rip’s direction again. “Don’t worry. You’re hardly a snack. I could drain you dry of your life energy and I wouldn’t have enough juice to put even the slightest dent in this dimension. It’s barely worth the struggle you’d put up.”

“Good to know that the only reason you haven’t killed me is because you can’t be bothered,” replied Rip, dryly.

He looked down at the pieces of the time drive again.

“I think I can turn this into something which I could use to open a door out of here with, or at least pry open a crack for us, but as it’s human technology, I’ve got no way of powering it in this place. But if we were to perhaps slightly “recharge” your battery, maybe we could jumpstart the drive enough to do what it needs to…” Rip gave Damien a significant look.

Darhk raised his eyebrows. “Are you suggesting what I think you are? You’d let me take your life force?”

Rip just gave a half shrug. “Only some of it. Given that I’ve survived almost certain death once today, I don’t particularly feel like giving it a second shot.”

He knew it was a stupid plan, and he didn’t particularly trust Darhk, but couldn’t think of any other way to make it work. It wasn’t as if magical energy was something that could just be summoned out of thin air, well, not without certain conditions being fulfilled.

Darhk wandered over to look a little more closely at what Rip had in his hands.

“You do remember what it feels like when I drain someone’s energy?”

“Vividly, thanks,” replied Rip, as he took out his pocket knife and set about seeing if he could cobble together something useable from the remnants of the time drive. “And I should perhaps point out that I will be setting the device that I build to overload unless I turn it off, so you  _will_  die if I’m not at least half-alive when we arrive.”

“I’d expect nothing less. You might want wherever you send us to include some good medical facilities, because I’m going to have to take nearly all of your life force to make that thing work. Assuming you can even make anything workable out of that bunch of scraps, which I highly doubt.”

“Please, if you have a better plan, do shout,” Rip spat in clipped tones, although all his concentration was now on dismantling the drive. He didn’t need Darhk’s less than helpful comments ruining his concentration.

“It’s a shame we don’t have one of those Time Sphere thingies that Eobard had…”

Rip just gave Darhk an annoyed look. “You do know that I invented the Time Sphere?”

“Why do you think I would care about such a mundane detail as that?”

“Forget I spoke,” he turned back to the time drive, carefully working on removing the parts as he talked. “I seem to remember that you weren’t even interested in my expertise when we were on the same side, so why would you be now we’re not.”

The time drive now sat in pieces on the ground, carefully laid out because he couldn’t afford to lose a single bit. As it was, it would be touch and go as to whether he had sufficient pieces to do what was needed. He removed his Time Courier from his wrist and started to take off the back plate. It was fiddly work without the right tools, but his pocket knife had done dual duty as a screwdriver in the past and did so again now.

“Come now, I helped you and those ridiculous Legends of yours defeat the bad guy. We are, at least temporarily, on the same side,” said Darhk, sitting down on a rock opposite Rip.

“They’re not  _my_  Legends,” replied Rip, without really thinking. These days, they were very much their own. “And you and I are definitely not on the same side, apart from anything, Mallus has very clearly not been defeated.”

He stripped a plate of metal from the time drive frame and twisted it into a something that could hold the piece of drive core together. This certainly wasn’t going to be pretty, but that was not something that concerned him as long as the damn thing worked.

“Whatever,” said Darhk. “You people should work out that us bad guys love it when you fight amongst yourselves. It makes our job so much easier.”

“I’m glad that my team call me out when I make a mistake,” said Rip, most of his attention on his work.

“Nora and I were such a great team. We really knew what the other was thinking.”

“That was probably because you had her indoctrinated by the Order since she was a child. Believe me, I have some experience of what that’s like, and you never fully escape its grip,” said Rip.

“Mallus gave us an opportunity to be together again. What would you have done if you’d had the chance to be with your son again?”

“I certainly wouldn’t have turned him over to a time demon to be his vessel!” replied Rip, angrily.

“Well, obviously I had world domination plans too. I suppose you could say that I wanted to give my girl the world, literally. I admit that maybe I didn’t understand quite how much I cared about Nora,” said Darhk.

“Children have this way of making us love them, even when you don’t want to,” said Rip, not that he’d ever had a problem loving Jonas. He’d laid eyes upon him and he knew his heart was already lost to his son.

“Yes, but I’m Damien Darhk. You know me, I’m ruthless. I would literally do anything to get what I want. Destroying time and giving my daughter up didn’t seem like such a big deal until I had to do it.”

“And I pity you for that alone,” said Rip, as he unscrewed another mangled piece of the time drive.

“I just don’t understand what happened. Where did these horrible, soft feelings come from? It just doesn’t make any sense,” Darhk shook his head as if he could shake them loose.

“It’s called love, you imbecile. Do you ever shut up?” asked Rip with an annoyed look at Darhk. He resumed working out how to strip a thin piece of metal off a larger piece so he that could use it as an improvised connecter wire between the Time Courier and the drive core.

Darhk held up his hands. “Pardon me for trying to pass the time with conversation. Love. I thought I was long past the ability to feel that. Who knew Nora would do this to me.”

Rip gave his companion a long-suffering look. Then Darhk’s annoying smirk turned into something else. Perhaps a look of worry. He got to his feet and his muscles tensed.

“Something wrong?”

“I’d hurry that up if I was you. We’ve got company. Someone finally noticed that we’re here.”

Rip looked over his shoulder and saw a number of dark creatures, maybe as many as thirty, slinking towards them on all fours. They were like a cross between a big cat and a Komodo dragon, but with horns that resembled scaled down versions of the ones that Mallus had on his head. Each creature had deep purple, scaly skin that glistened wetly when the lightning provided enough light to see them properly.

“Bloody hell,” muttered Rip. He carefully put down the object he was working on, and drew his knife from his boot. It was larger than the pocket knife he’d been using to work on the time drive.

“No,” said Darhk, and a knife appeared in his hand as if from nowhere. “You need to finish that. There’s too many of them for us to fight and win. We need to get out of here. I’ll hold them off.”

“That’s madness, you can’t do it alone,” said Rip. “And if you get yourself killed then I’ll have no way to power the drive.”

“Work quickly and I won’t have to,” said Darhk, his voice taut with stress.

Rip put his knife down beside him on the black ground, within easy reach, and gave Darhk a curt nod. The man was a former member of the League of Assassins, so he did know how to fight, and Rip turned back to his work as Darhk watched the creatures surround their position. The pressure was on, and Rip did his best to ignore the sounds of snarling and harsh breathing from the creatures as they stole closer.

Darhk slashed out at one, taking it down before it could attack, its head nearly taken clean off its body. The others held back for a moment, none of them wanting to meet the same fate as their pack mate, but it wouldn’t last. A second creature jumped towards Rip, the easier target, but Darhk stepped between him and the leaping animal, embedding his knife in the thing's chest and then tossing the demon spawn to one side ready for the next.

“They’re about to work out that if they attack together, I can’t take them all at once,” said Darhk over his shoulder, as he backed closer towards Rip again.

“I’m doing this as fast as I can,” complained Rip, tersely. “If I get it wrong I’ll send us into the sun or the middle of a mountain, and our trip will be very short indeed.”

Darhk fell silent, his concentration on the circle of demonic creatures moving towards them. Rip glanced up. He could see them tense and get ready to pounce, and he knew he needed a few more minutes to complete his improvised inter-dimensional crowbar. If he survived this, he really should come up with a better name for this device than that. However, survival appeared unlikely at this point, which seemed like a rather cruel twist given what he’d already endured to reach here.

Three of the creatures decided to leap towards Darhk simultaneously, and he easily dealt with the first, and then the second, but the sharp claws of the third lacerated his arm and he dropped his blade. The creature’s jaws were about to tear into Darhk’s neck and the older man seemed disorientated for a moment, unable to dodge out of the way. Rip didn’t consider his actions, he grabbed his own knife, pushed himself up from his crouch, and stabbed the third demonic beast up through the rib cage into what he hoped was the location of its heart. He withdrew the knife and the creature dropped to the ground, squealing and then stopped moving. He picked up Darhk’s knife again.

“Yours, I believe.”

Darhk received the weapon back, and his eyes met Rip’s for just a second. “Finish the device.”

Then, above them, the sky literally broke open. Mallus had finally penetrated the barrier that was holding him here, and now there was a tear in the dark sky. It had ragged, fiery edges that crawled with flames and lightning. There was the crack of thunder and Mallus soared upwards, his wings beating with a harsh finality.

The reaction of the creatures was immediate. They cowered away, and Rip knew when fate had given him a second chance, because his entire life had been built on grabbing those infinitesimal moments when the tide turned and making them his escape route. This was just another of those.

He made the final connections. He would have to hope that the Legends could deal with Mallus because he couldn’t help with that now. All he could do was survive long enough to rejoin the fight.

“Damien!” he shouted over the thunder from the broken sky. “It’s done.”

He got to his feet, set the controls on the Time Courier that was strapped to the remains of the time drive. It resembled a large, flawed ruby wrapped in strips of grey metal, and with a watch attached to the top. Its appearance didn’t produce confidence in his engineering abilities, but appearances could be deceiving and he really hoped that was true here.

“We only get one chance at this. I’m fairly certain that this will overload the Time Courier’s circuits once the crack in dimensions is created,” said Rip. “And quite honestly, it could kill both of us. I haven’t had a chance to test it.”

Darhk looked up at the disintegrating sky. “All I want is the opportunity to see my daughter again, even if it’s only as a visitor in whatever prison I get thrown into. And we are running out of time.”

Rip held out his hand. “I’m assuming that grabbing me by the neck isn’t necessary for your powers to work.”

Darhk gave a shake of his head. “As much as I did enjoy that, no. But the  _pain_  is. You’ll have to forgive me for the agony that I’m about to cause you.”

“I’m tougher than I look.”

“It would be hard to be less tough than you look.”

Rip rolled his eyes. “Everything is set. You know what to do?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Darhk, and took Rip’s hand.

Rip immediately felt the agonising burn of Darhk’s power across his body, it sang through his veins and down to the centre of his bones. It drove him to his knees as his vision blurred and he tried to keep a tenuous hold on consciousness, because if he passed out now, he doubted that Darhk would pick him up off the ground. He shook his head, trying to clear it, but it just made the pain worse, and instead he found himself crying out. His vision greyed.

“Stop!” he said. “You’re killing me!”

“That is rather the point, Rip, or perhaps you weren’t paying attention to that part of the briefing.”

Rip pretty much lost the ability to talk at that point, but he did retain enough awareness to see Darhk put his hand on the improvised device and he was gratified to see it leapt to life with the power of Darhk’s magic entering its circuits. It was enough to jump start the drive, and pry open the crack in dimensions that they needed. He could make out a bright, jagged line that widened into an opening. Darhk let go of Rip’s hand and he started to fall.

“Oh, no you don’t. You’re not done yet, Rip. But you can consider us even after this.”

Surprisingly, he felt himself being prevented from hitting the ground and then thrown over a shoulder. That didn’t seem right. Darhk didn’t know that Rip hadn’t rigged the time drive to do anything after it opened the portal, most likely it would fizzle out as soon as they reached the other side. It wasn’t going to hold together for terribly long given that it was kept together with will power and figurative duct tape at the moment.

He felt rather than saw the moment they stepped through the glowing portal between dimensions. It made him feel somewhat sick, and the pain from Damien draining his life force hadn’t dissipated. He gave up his final attempt to remain awake, as the light around him changed.

“Ah, sunshine,” he murmured, and then he passed out. His final thought was that at least he could die in the light.

***

Rip Hunter woke up, which was unexpected.

He struggled to do it, it was painful and tedious, but it happened. His eyes remained shut though as he tried to bring himself back to the realm of the living, and he could hear alarms were sounding around him. He wondered what that meant. Had there been a mission gone wrong? The alarms sounded vaguely familiar. Someone had been speaking but had fallen abruptly silent as the alarms went off, and he couldn’t remember what they’d been saying, just that the voice was familiar. Then the alarms stopped.

He tried to open his eyes and was met by bright lights, so he closed them again. He could feel sheets, a bed beneath him, his torso was slightly raised, propped on pillows, and his limbs were heavy when he tried to move. It was difficult even to raise his hand up from the bed, none of his muscles felt like responding. There also appeared to be something attached to his wrist and a tube running under his nose. He ordered his eyes to open again, but his vision was blurry, and he pulled at the tube, trying to get rid of it. His mind was cloudy, but he knew he didn’t like the tube, it felt uncomfortable. Anxiety was setting in. Where was he? What was going on?

“Hey, hey! It’s okay,” said the familiar voice. Female, but he was having trouble placing it. “Rip! Stop it, you need that.” A hand came up to stop his, and he realised that he was far too weak to win the struggle. “Everything’s okay. You’re in the Time Bureau infirmary, but you’re going to be fine.” Both of his hands were taken and held, gently but firmly.

Rip shuffled in the bed restlessly. He blinked and tried to get his eyes to focus. They flitted around the room nervously, before they settled on the blonde woman in front of him and he let out a sigh or recognition.

“Sara,” he croaked.

She smiled at him. “Yeah, Sara, you idiot. When you’re feeling better you’ve got a lot to answer for. In the meantime, I’ll get you some water.”

He frowned, and tried to piece together what had happened, but the fog in his mind was taking a while to clear. Sara didn’t say anything else as she brought him water in a glass with a straw.

“Sip it slowly,” she instructed, and he was too befuddled to do anything else.

“Mallus?” he asked, when he’d quenched his thirst enough to try speaking again.

“Gone. We took him out with the totems… with a little help from Beebo,” said Sara, with an amused smile.

“Beebo? The talking doll Beebo?” he asked, with confusion.

“Yes, it’s a long story. I’ll save it for another time.”

“Is everyone okay?”

“Yes, the only person who died was you.”

He noticed now that she had a book in her hand, and he suddenly had several questions. “How did I get here? How long have I been here?”

“How much do you remember?” asked Sara.

He frowned. “Er, taking the time drive, it overloading…” His frown deepened, and his eyes widened. “The demon dimension and Damien Darhk. I managed to use the broken pieces of the time drive to open a portal to bring us back here.”

Sara nodded. “About eight months after we defeated Mallus, you and Damien Darhk tumbled through a portal into the atrium of the Time Bureau. Darhk was immediately arrested, but gave us a story about him draining your life force to power the device you hacked together to open the door out of Mallus’ realm. The tech guys were impressed, by the way. You were unconscious, near death, but they got you to the infirmary and you’ve been in a coma ever since. That was five months ago.”

“Five months…?” he asked, incredulously. That explained the weakness and general feeling of soreness that pervaded his form. “And you just happened to be here when I woke up?”

Sara shrugged. “I’ve been reading to you every Tuesday afternoon for weeks now, but Callahan seemed to think you’d be waking up soon, even if you did take your own sweet time about it.”

“Five months,” Rip repeated, still trying to get his head around it.

“So, was anything that Darhk said true?” asked Sara.

“I did make a device to open a portal, and I needed Mr Darhk’s powers to provide it with energy. Unfortunately, Mallus had drained him of his magical power when he took possession of his form. The only way to open the portal was for Damien to drain me of my life force and then use it to power the device and open the portal. I made sure that I set it to bring us back to the Bureau. I thought I’d calibrated it to bring us in close to when Ava and I left to join you and the Legends, but I’m not that surprised it was off.”

“Huh, Darhk was telling the truth. Eight months, Rip! We thought you were dead for eight months!” said Sara, crossly. “We gave you a funeral. Wally sang  _Careless Whisper_  for you!”

Rip couldn’t help but smile a little at that, and raise an eyebrow. “Really? I’m touched.”

“I cried my god damn eyes out. Gideon was in mourning, she brought the Waverider back here and refused to move it for a week. Mick named his new rat “Hunter”, and Ray was moping about like a kicked puppy. And then you turn up here, almost dead,  _again_ , and we have to wait another five months for you to open your eyes!” Sara looked quite angry now. “If you  _ever_  pull another stunt like you did with the time drive then I will come and find you in the after life and make your life hell.”

“I’m fairly certain that the most likely destination for my soul  _is_  hell, so your services won’t be required,” said Rip, with an amused look. He was tired, and he could feel sleep tugging on him. That seemed unfair, after having already slept away the last five months.

“Don’t make jokes about it. We nearly lost you,” said Sara.

“And yet here I am. Apparently the universe isn’t done with me yet,” replied Rip. He blinked heavily.

“Neither am I, Captain Hunter,” said Sara. “But we’ll discuss that when you’re back on your feet.”

Rip frowned again. His brain wasn’t up to making any sense of what that might be about.

“Right, I shall look forwards to that,” he said, dryly, and fell back asleep, somehow reassured.

***

Rip took a while to get his strength back, but he worked hard at his physiotherapy, and Dr Callahan predicted he’d be back to normal once he’d completed his rehab.

Things had changed a lot whilst he was away and then sleeping. The most major change was that the Legends had officially been brought into the Bureau and designated as their “Special Circumstances” team. Anything which required an unusual approach, or their special skills, was given to them to handle, and Sara looked very happy with the arrangement. Her relationship with Director Sharpe seemed to be going well and actually appeared to help with the smooth running of the interaction between the Bureau and the Legends.

The Legends had been continuing to live on the Waverider, but that was only temporary, and they would be moving to the brand new Sunjammer in another month or so. Sara had raved to him about how the new ship had more than one bathroom, the latest in flight technology, and weaponry that outclassed the Waverider. It also had an AI, based on Gideon’s design, but this one had been matched to work with Sara specifically. Her name was Gloria, and Rip had reviewed the specifications personally, while he convalesced. It looked like a good pairing, and he fully expected the team to do well on their new ship.

Rip had approved of the new ship and the arrangements for the Legends. If they were going to insist on staying around, then they should be part of the Bureau and do it with oversight. However, Ava then came to him with her plans for him. He had just finished his latest physio session and was tired, but he’d made good progress today and was on schedule to complete his recovery as planned.

“Obviously, it’s entirely up to you what you do next,” said Ava. “You nearly gave your life to defeat Mallus, and this agency hasn’t exactly treated you well in the past. No one would blame you if you want to walk away.”

Rip chuckled at that. “You know me better than to think I could ever stop doing this. I’d be bored after a week of a normal life. As it is, I’m driving Dr Callahan up the wall with questions about when I can get back to work. Which does rather assume that the Time Bureau will have me back.”

Ava nodded. “Of course we’ll have you back. I was wrong to dismiss you in the first place. But I also know you well enough to understand that you’ll never be happy working in this bureaucracy. So, we have a ship without a Captain, and a Captain without a ship. It’s quite obvious what needs to happen I think.”

“The Waverider? You’re giving me back the Waverider?” His tone was somewhat surprised, but Rip found himself unexpectedly happy at the prospect.

“Well, there are some conditions,” said Ava, clasping her hands behind her back. “You’re an accomplished temporal investigator, your work on Mallus proved that, and that’s what I want you to do. I’m calling the new position “Exploring Officer”. You’d go out, investigate complex problems and then report back. I’d expect you to assist whatever team is sent to deal with the problem, but only assist. You’re not to act as a one-man-army, as you’ve tried to do in the past…”

Rip opened his mouth to protest that and Ava glared at him, before she continued. Rip closed his mouth.

“But you will have the authority to work alone for the majority of the time. You will report directly to me, and that means keeping me up to date on your whereabouts and what you’re working on. No more secret missions to take down ancient evils. Plus regular down time between missions, back here at the Bureau, so you don’t burn yourself out. And I want you to submit to a full psychiatric evaluation, before you take up the position, with regular follow-up sessions with the psychiatrists if they think you need them.”

Rip gave Ava an unimpressed look. “I suppose that’s all reasonable. I really don’t need a psychiatric evaluation, though. I’m absolutely fine.”

Ava’s eyebrows disappeared upwards. “Rip, you tried to kill yourself, and according to the Legends, it’s not even the first time.”

“It was the only way to buy the Legends the time that they needed,” said Rip, and he truly believed that. He hadn’t been eager to sacrifice his life, but then he hadn’t been entirely unhappy to either.

“I’ve read the mission reports, and listened to what you said to Sara before the time drive overloaded. There were other options, and the Legends should have done their research better. A lot of mistakes were made on that mission, and we’re all trying to learn from it.” Ava sounded sincere and quite serious about that. “Things need to change, Rip. Every mission we run should be about diminishing risk, not plunging headlong into it.”

“I know that. I’m the one that wrote the Agent’s Handbook on how this place should work…” started Rip.

“But you care so little about your life that you were willing to sacrifice yourself just to slow Mallus down,” said Ava. “I realise that I may not have expressed this particularly well in the past, but I do care about what happens to you, and you need to stop doing this to yourself. I want there to still be a Rip Hunter here at the Bureau to train the next generation of agents, and the way you’re going at the moment, that’s not going to happen. I won’t allow you to continue like that. So, if you won’t submit to psychiatric help then I’m not giving you the Waverider.”

She straightened her back a little as she delivered the ultimatum. He disliked that way that she had apparently come to know him so well, because he did want the Waverider and he had desperately missed Gideon’s company.

Rip considered the proposal for a moment. He wanted to snap back that the Waverider was his to begin with and that he didn’t need her permission to take it, or someone to examine the way his mind worked, and then he remembered that it had felt like a  _relief_  as he held the time drive. He had  _liked_  the idea that he wouldn’t have to continue to live with all the accrued pain of his existence for much longer. But then he hadn’t died and here he was, back in the Bureau once more, disappointingly still alive. Even he had to admit that feeling that way might not be entirely healthy.

Perhaps it  _was_  time that he tried to heal his soul, rather than just worrying about healing the timeline. It had taken more than enough knocks during his lifetime, maybe it did require care and medical treatment in the same way that a broken arm might. If he had been in Ava’s position then he would without doubt have demanded the same of his agent.

He reluctantly nodded in agreement. “Very well. I agree to your terms. The Bureau has itself an Exploring Officer.”

“Actually, there is one more thing that I’d like you to do,” said Ava.

“Name it,” said Rip, and then instantly regretted his prior agreement to Ava’s conditions as she outlined what she had in mind. He had a feeling that his life had just taken another interesting turn.

***

Once Rip was allowed out of the infirmary, he made arrangements to visit Darhk in his cell in the Time Bureau prison. It had required that he fill in a number of forms, but he didn’t mind the red tape on this occasion. Ava also seemed to be doing her best to diminish the bureaucracy inherent in the Time Bureau, which was probably a good thing too.

Darhk laughed as he was let into the interview room. The villain was handcuffed, and the cuffs were also attached by a metal ring to the table he sat at.

“I really thought that the last I’d see of you was when you were carted off by the medics.”

Rip gave his former adversary an amused look before he took the seat opposite.

“Given that you put me in a coma for five months I should probably be more angry with you than I am, but you did also save my life. I thought I should at least express my thanks for that.”

“It was a partnership. I couldn’t build the device. You couldn’t power it. A marriage of convenience, nothing more, so your thanks are sweet, but unnecessary. Although it does say something about where we were that even a Time Bureau prison is better accommodation. And at least I do get regular visits from my daughter, who had some interesting news the other day…”

“Ah, yes, the deal that she has made with the Bureau. Dr Palmer was a rather persuasive advocate for her, pointing out that for much of her life she was manipulated into doing your bidding, and her assistance in the final battle also went in her favour. He was able to convince the Time Bureau Directors that she can be rehabilitated.”

“My heart swells with paternal pride. I suppose I should have known that I was pushing her to follow in my world domination footsteps when all she wanted was to be a hero,” said Darhk.

“I wouldn’t go quite that far,” said Rip. “She was a willing participant in your schemes, and even though she was your daughter, she still had free will. She could have left your side if she’d truly wanted to, but it is our hope that she has turned over a new leaf.”

Darhk chuckled. “You have your hands full, and I don’t envy you your task. Nora doesn’t take direction easily. I should know.”

“Indeed,” said Rip. “So, I thought perhaps that I might visit regularly, if you would be amenable to that?”

“It isn’t like I have a lot of choice. My magic is gone. I am totally at your mercy.” Darhk indicated the cuffs.

“Which is why I’m asking. I wondered how you felt about chess as a game? I understand that it’s what is traditionally played when visiting one’s former nemesis in prison. Dr Palmer seemed to think that it was the done thing anyway.” Rip shrugged.

“Chess?” asked Darhk, as if he was testing out the concept. “My appointment book does appear to be rather empty. I suppose chess might be diverting.”

“Good. Then next time I will bring a set with me,” said Rip, getting to his feet again.

“Can’t wait,” replied Darhk, with more sarcasm than Rip really felt was necessary.

He merely gave a nod of acknowledgment in reply, and went to the door. He waited for the guard to let him out.

“One thing before you go, Captain Hunter,” said Darhk.

“Yes?” asked Rip.

“Take care of Nora. She’s your responsibility now,” said Darhk. If he’d expected menace in those words, it wasn’t there, just a genuine request.

“You have my word on that,” said Rip, with sincerity, and exited the room.

***

They threw him a launch party, which seemed utterly unnecessary, but the Legends were prone to such displays. He’d learnt to just go with it when they decided to do things like this. They’d also put in a lot of effort into decorating the Waverider ready for the party, so he couldn’t exactly say “no”, and it had still been their ship until quite recently. He supposed he had to allow them these things, especially as they were parting ways again. They had believed he was dead for eight months, and it was as if they’d suddenly started looking at him in a new way. He’d spent time with all of them during his convalescence, and they had rekindled lost friendships, maybe even started new ones. The team were regularly at the Bureau now, making use of its resources to plan missions and find aberrations and anachronisms. They were still remarkably good at finding trouble, but at least they now had the resources of the Bureau behind them when things went wrong.

John Constantine was also a frequent visitor, which rather threw Rip at first. He hadn’t seen the demonologist for a few years now, although they had parted on reasonably friendly terms after their last adventure. He had also been invited to the launch party, because the team had somehow found out that he already knew Rip.

Despite his fears, Rip had ended up enjoying the party. It was a small gathering, only a few selected Time Bureau agents, Ava and the Legends. Everyone had congratulated Rip on his recovery and new position within the Bureau, and he had never felt more like he’d come home than he did now. He was back on his old ship, reunited with his AI best friend once more, and with a brand new mission to get his teeth into. The party broke up eventually, and the guests said their goodbyes. People had actually hugged him as they left the ship, until John was the only one left on board. He’d spent most of the party flirting with both the Legends and Time Bureau staff, so nothing much had changed there.

“You’ll want to watch your new protégé,” John said, as he handed Rip a glass of whiskey.

“That is the point of this exercise. She needs guidance and a purpose,” said Rip, as he sat down in one of the leather armchairs in the parlour. “Sara seems to think that I am at least good at that, and Ava believes that I will benefit from having someone to mentor too. I’m fairly certain that both of them think sending me out alone again would be a bad idea, and they may not be wrong about that.”

John collapsed into the other chair, barely managing not to spill the contents of his own glass.

“Well, I suppose it was time you moved away from blondes. Still, she’s a bit more evil than your usual type,” said John.

Rip just looked at him. “She’s only evil because she was raised to be. You tried to exorcise the demon from her. You know what she went through. I have to believe that she can be redeemed, because if I don’t then what hope do I have for myself.”

John raised his eyebrows at that. “I admit, being possessed by a demon isn’t fun, and it definitely leaves a mark, but what have you got to seek forgiveness for?”

“Everything the Time Masters did in the name of their goals. How many times did I alter an event, supposedly to keep history on track, but, really, who knows what I was doing? The only difference is that I thought I was doing the right thing,” said Rip, and took a generous swallow of the spirit in his glass.

“That’s quite a big difference, mate,” said John, pointing a finger in his direction, whilst holding the glass in the same hand. He too took a large drink, and glanced out towards the corridor. “I wanted to save that kid more than anything. I never have good luck with kids. I suppose at least she gets a second chance, and that’s a lot more than most of us ever have.” He took another drink. “And if you do have any difficulties, well, you know where to find me. Blondie gave me a phone, so you can even get Gideon to put through a call, assuming I don’t lose the damn thing again.”

“Noted, but I think we’ll be fine,” said Rip.

John downed the remains of his drink. “No rest for the wicked. I’ll see you around.”

He gave Rip a pat on the shoulder and left, just as Nora Darhk, his new crew member and mentee, entered the bridge.

The two exchanged looks, but nothing was said. Nora walked up the steps to the parlour and leaned against the doorway. She was dressed casually in black jeans, a dark red top and a leather jacket. It wasn’t exactly Bureau standard uniform, but then they weren’t going to be a standard Bureau unit. Rip himself was dressed in his typical black jeans, white shirt, jacket and brown duster, and he was really hoping to avoid having to wear the blue Time Bureau suit ever again.

“Is that whiskey just for guests or can anyone drink it?” Nora asked.

Rip huffed out an amused breath. “You’re welcome to join me in a drink to celebrate our inaugural flight. Just the one though, we do actually need to get underway at some point today. There’s been some rather intriguing activity in the 2140s that Director Sharpe would like us to look into.”

Nora got herself a drink, and took the chair that John had vacated.

“I know I’m not what you’d hoped for, and I also know that this is my second chance,” said Nora, as she sipped the whiskey.

“This ship is all about second chances, Miss Darhk, isn’t that right, Gideon?” he said, looking towards where Gideon’s avatar usually appeared.

“Yes, Captain, and I am very pleased to have another chance to have you as my Captain,” said Gideon.

“As am I to be your Captain again,” said Rip. He turned back to Nora. “As long as you do your best to make the most of this opportunity then I’m sure you will be exactly what I had hoped for.”

“Really? You want a daddy’s girl, fluent in dark magic, who used to be possessed by a time demon?” she asked.

Rip shook his head, and gave his new team mate a knowing smile. “No, I want Nora Darhk, the woman who stood beside the Legends and used her powers to protect the timeline, even though it wasn’t what her father had taught her to do, and without any training, at the risk of her own life. Now, if you can be that person, I think we will do very well.”

Nora just looked at him. “I’m going to try.”

“That’s all I ask,” replied Rip. He held out his glass. “To second chances."

Nora clinked hers against his. “Second chances.”


End file.
